Oct6
Camo outfit
Author Archives: justadashofglitter
Nov21
Holiday Belle Dress
Nov21
Holiday Belle Dress
Sep4
What I Have Learned During My 10 Days Of Speaking Vacay
Headed in for surgery
Well let’s see how to cliff note this…. About 7 years ago I started losing my voice and ventured with my girlfriend Louisa to see Dr. Willy, no I’m not even kidding with that name and yes I should have known better. Long story short he told me I had a callus on my vocal cords from my “vivacious” personality. When I asked him what I should do to fix it he replied, “Change your personality and come back and see me in a month” {no I am not joking! If Louisa wasn’t there I don’t think anybody would have believed a board certified specialist told me that}.
Fast forward to 2012/3013, here I am living in Charlotte and losing my voice once a month, then once every couple weeks and eventually once a week. Back to the ENT I went. This doctor was a little more realistic, although his solution had me in tears from laughter. I was headed to the Swallow Center {yes people that is an actual place} for vocal lessons. Skip ahead another year and another specialist and under the knife I went. Tonsils out and callus removed from my vocal cords. This has me in so much pain {I kid you not, if feels like I swallowed a box of razor blades & the pain meds are pretty much null & void at this point and it’s been 9 days since surgery} I am also unable to speak for 10+ days. Umm anybody that knows me knows this is a true test.
This dry erase board has been a real life saver, thanks Niki! Along with my cute notebook from Abby
Here are a few things I, chatty Cathy with the gift of gab, have learned during my 10+ day vocal vacay & surgery experience:
I am not an introvert: I’m not sure that this was ever questioned by anybody, EVER but this little surgical venture has sealed the deal on that.
People tend to think since I can’t speak that they can’t either: Seriously! I start writing on my dry erase board to tell them what I want & they whisper back…. my hearing works just fine. They also tend to write back on the dry erase board, while this is sweet and all, this is taking both of us double the time it should to communicate. It cracks me up every time.
My friends think they are comedians: Now I think my friends are funny and all, but they think they are HILARIOUS! Who am I to judge? I think I’m hilarious too and they always say “birds of a feather”. A couple guy friends came over to drink wine {in front of me, just plain cruel… ohhh wine I miss thee} and I look over to see Robert playing jeopardy with “my voice “. My friend Ben has now convinced himself {and kind of me} that I am coming back with a British accent {fingers crossed}.
Comedian
Not speaking truly does test your (and others) temper level: There is nothing more frustrating than wanting to speak or trying to communicate and the other person has no clue what you are trying to say. I can tell you FOR SURE NOT to pick me as a charades partner. I am awful! Trying to tell my poor dad where to drive with sign language proved to be quite a task.
I have chicken scratch for handwriting: I always thought my little loops and fun writing was cute… cute is may be, legible it is NOT!
Dreaded Day 7: If you have had your tonsils removed in your adult years they warn you about the dreaded “day 7” after surgery… Ohhhh Maahhhh Gosh! It is worse than day one, this day will test your pain level. I am now 9 days out from surgery and it still feels I am swallowing broken glass with just a sip of water. These blogs and such that have people saying they were eat toast…. umm not even nice soft bread but hard scratchy toast?! There is no way! I keep hearing I will be so happy in the years to come so we shall see.
I AM STARVING! There is officially no way I could ever be rexi! I have been on a chicken broth and sugar free pudding diet for 8 days and I. AM. STARVING!! We have passed the “hangry” stage and I am now staying indoors for everybody’s own safety!
I have the world’s most amazing friends &family!!: While I already knew this, I have been humbled by everybody reaching out while I have been out of sorts. My best girlfriend Niki sent me 10 days of presents to open each day. She thought of any & everything! Abby, Robert and Greg are the only ones I’ve let stop by and they’ve been amazing to just sit and watch a movie and hang out. No words can explain how thankful I am to my Daddio who came and took care of me the whole time! Thank you for being patient.
Thank you so much for all the sweet cards, texts, gifts & emails. I can’t explain how amazing each was to get. It helped cheer me up during my recovery time! I still can’t talk and they said 3-4 more days of pain so fingers crossed we are in the home stretch.
A million thanks yous!
Until next time…
A
Sep4
No Finer Place Than Charleston With My Magnolias
Charleston With My Magnolias For Jules’ Girl’s Weekend
Back at it again… this time with my favorite ladies in my favorite southern town! Now, if I haven’t mentioned before I moved to Charlotte from Charleston, SC so every time I go back there it is going “home”. I also moved to Charlotte in part due to these ladies in this photo: Sharon, me, Niki and Jules. Beside me living here, Jules’ is getting married here and this city is where I met Niki, which snowballed in to meeting these other two fabulous ladies. Needless to say Charleston is an extremely special city to all of us. There is a reason that Charleston wins best city in the US year after year {I’m not saying it’s because of us but it seems like quite a coincidence hahaha I kid I kid}. If you have not been… GO!
The beautiful brunette on the right is getting hitched this month and against what we wanted, she didn’t care for a “bachelorette” party, she just wanted a girls weekend with us lucky ladies. Weekend in Charleston with my Magnolias? TWIST. MY. ARM.
Now a little tid bit… These ladies in the pic call ourselves the magnolias because between all of us we hit every character in Steel Magnolias. Those ladies have been life-long, through thick and thin, friends and they each have their own little southern sass. While we have all met in the past ten years we have been through weddings, births, death, break-ups, medical issues, moving cities and everything in between. These are the ladies that I make my first phone call to as soon as anything good or bad happens in my life. They never judge, they know my good days and bad days and they love me just the same. They are the ladies that I am happiest with sitting on my front porch drinking wine and laughing at everything and nothing. They are my magnolias.
We started the weekend with three of us driving to Charleston together to meet the lovely bride-to-be {that in and of itself is always an adventure}. Check-in at the Francis Marion and time for some wine!! If there is one thing my girls and I know how to do… it is to drink some wine and bubbly! Time to get all fancied up and head to Jules’ event planner’s 30th birthday {did you follow that?}. Mr Luke Wilson “the wedding planner of Charleston” {seriously check out his site it’s redic! Luke Wilson Events} just happened to be turning 30 the same weekend we were there so naturally we crashed his big event. OH MY GAAHHH! We cabbed it about 20 minutes outside of downtown to Daniel Island Country Club where we entered, well basically, we entered a wedding reception… His name was in lights behind the most amazing band I’ve heard and the decor was insane. Free flowing bubbly, wine and drinks and a cake that would make some brides jealous. Well helllllllo start to our weekend, nice to see you!
- Dancing the night away at Luke’s 30th
We finally grabbed a drink, stepped outside while waiting on our cab, kicked our heels off, enjoyed the mini chicken sandwiches & parmesan garlic fries they were bringing around and made new friends of course. WHAT. A. NIGHT. Time to head back to the hotel put on pjs and drink some more wine.
Day 2: Today was portrait day for Miss Jules. We woke up early and went to eat at Rarebit… delish! Over the past 5 years they have completely redone upper King St and there are some of the coolest restaurants and bars to go to. I have been to most places to eat in Chas but Rarebit was one I had not been to yet. It was the perfect breakfast spot but their dinner menu looked amazing as well. We refueled, my dad popped in to say hi {he lives downtown Chas} and then it was off for the trial run of hair and make up. We dropped Jules at Stuart Lawrence Salon while we snuck off and set up the room with some “bachelorette” goodies {did you really think we were going to let her get away without bachelorette stuff? Paaalease}. We grabbed the bubbly and headed back to Stuart Lawrence to see the master piece. If you are in Charleston and need your hair done, GO SEE BUTCH. He was absolutely amazing!! Sorry can’t post pics because the final product is a surprise for the wedding day. Off to get the bridal portraits taken at Boone Hall plantation. If you don’t know about Boone Hall, get with it! Just messing… it is where Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively got married, the Notebook was filmed here and it is just breathtakingly beautiful. The weather was perfect, the rain held off and the photographer got some of the most beautiful shots {easy to do because Jules is one of the most photogenic people on the planet, seriously it makes you not want to like her but you can’t because she’s just so damn nice}.
That night we did the usual bachelorette games of “what did Matty answer” {her fiance} while we drank wine and champagne and then got ready for dinner. Back down upper King to Macintosh for a late dinner. Now, I have been to Macintosh a few times and I swear the food gets better every time I go there. We had the front long table that looked out to the street so we could people watch while we ate and gabbed. Sharon and I got a light white fish dish and it was seasoned and cooked perfectly. Jules’ ordered the pork chop and loved it! Lame, I know, but we were exhausted and headed back to the hotel after our dinner.
Day 3: I was actually super excited about and dreading day 3 from the start of the weekend. Super excited because I made reservations at Husk, the number one new restaurant in the US for 2011 and dreading saying until next time. Now if you plan to go to Charleston this MUST go on your restaurant list but be warned you have to have a reservation. I made one while I was in NYC the weekend before eating lunch with Jules during my “guys weekend”. Husk is in a typical Charleston house and the menu is just divine!! Take your time, go through the menu and enjoy the ambiance if you go here. It was the perfect quaint spot to sip a mimosa with the girls and recap the weekend, what still needed to be done for the wedding, Sharon’s little chunky monkey {Tyler} at home and any other daily gab we had. I was sad to be saying until next time but I’ll be seeing these ladies so very soon for Jules’ big day.
Husk for our last gab session for the weekend
It was time to drop the bride-to-be at the airport then me, Niki and Sharon were headed back to Charlotte. Now I have one week ahead of me then it was off for surgery to get my tonsils removed and a callus removed from my vocal cords. Needless to say I was getting in as much talking as possible before I got sliced up. More on this later.
Until next time…
Amy
Sep2
The Big Apple With The Boys
At Catch with the guys
About three weeks ago I hit the friendly skies once again and headed for a weekend in NYC to celebrate my friend Ben’s birthday! I absolutely crash the guys weekend and loved every second of it. We flew on Thurs and stayed until Sunday and didn’t sit still the whole time.
It never fails that as soon as I arrive in the city I get a boost of energy that stays with me until I fly out. There is just something that is simply magical about the city. Don’t get me wrong I could never live there, my ADD would allow me to get nothing productive done, but that is the best part about visiting…. that you always enjoy it as a treat!
This trip was a bit different than usual. I almost always go up to stay with a best girl friend that lives there and we do our shopping and bouncing around. One of the guys hadn’t ever been to NYC before and the three of us that have all do different things while we are in the city so it was really fun to blend it all. We stayed in Midtown and start out night one at Minus 5, the ice bar attached to our hotel. I have been to a lot of cool places in the city but this is one I probably won’t go back to. It was $20 just to “rent” your parka and gloves then you get in to a tiny bar and the drink were redic price wise. It was cool {no pun intended} to see a bar and glasses and everything in there made out of ice but was it worth the price… nahhh. We went a few other places then back to the hotel for round 2 the next day.
- Me and Phil being goofy in Minus 5
Day 2: Probably my favorite day… One of the “must stop” places every time I go is always Eataly!! Oh. My. Gosh! There is literally no other place in NYC that makes me smile from the second I walk through the door until I leave {and I LOVE shopping so this is saying a lot}. It is a mart, a deli… a little orgasm for all of your senses to put it bluntly! We started with a double Americano then I took Phil and Max to venture around the place. There is a little area right in the middle with the tables that are the perfect height and they have those hooks perfectly located so I could safely hang my purse {surprisingly this is rare so I get a little excited when I find them}. We bunkered up and I got to introduce the guys to my FAVORITE thing!! A cheese plate, a glass of wine with a heavy pour and the guys got the meats as well {I don’t eat meat so I ate the heavenly bread and cheeses}.
Heaven on earth.. Eataly!
Later that night I made a reservation for Ben’s birthday dinner at Catch in the West Village, another NYC favorite. The food is divine and it’s the perfect setting for a group or a date night. There is a certain sex appeal as soon as you walk in the door. A place where you can take that sexy black dress or that little dress you wear for a special occasion and you fit right in. Sure it can be assumed as pretentious because celebs go there but that is far from how you are treated and that is very rare in a lot of che che places I’ve been. You are seated, served fresh bread and then start ordering off of the menu which has entrees as well as tapas items. Our food was placed on the wrought iron lazy Susan and as we drank wine we laughed and caught up on the last year. I always do a silly game called “Best, Worst and Funniest” with friends or boyfriends either on your birthday or after a weekend. Positive, negative, positive… it is a perfect reminder of the three main things that are important and a fun little recap. It was fun for us all to do together.
Day 3 was filled with eating at The Cleveland {amaaaazing yet a random suggestion from a drunk man on the street, hey what can I say, he knew his food} then running all around Soho, hitting up Canale St to look around, shopping at Ben Sherman then we nestled in to the cutest most ROCKIN place for a drink, Antique Garage…. HOLY MOLY! If you have not stumbled upon this little gem, GO FIND IT!! We walked in to, literally, a garage turned restaurant. It had antiques all around {I know, shocking from the name}, mismatched tables and decor and sultry music playing. I am a sucker for Frank Sinatra so I was in heaven! We sat and drank fresh berry lemonade {spiked of course}, listened to amazing music and people watched. It was pure perfection! This is where fate also threw us for a loop… as if our weekend couldn’t have gotten any better we met the BEST group of women that where equally as vivacious as we were and they had the cutest southern accents. To cliff note this for you: We made friends with the other lively group who happen to be a group of 17 women in town from Beaufort, SC to celebrate of of their 40th birthdays! They were the only part we didn’t even know we were missing from the weekend. We drank bottle after bottle of wine with our new friends and we were all so loud and filled the whole place with laughter that we cleared out most of the tiny restaurant. It was time to venture on…. all together of course. We all went back to our own places to shower up then met the ladies at the Hotel Gansevoort for drinks and an unforgettable evening.
Just a few of the ladies from Beaufort, SC at the Antique Garage
After a long evening it was time to leave. One of my favorite things about travel is not just to take in everything about which ever location you travel to, from the sights, the culture, the sounds, the cuisine but more importantly the people you meet along the way. We have all kept in touch with our southern belles and we are planning a reunion trip in the near future.
Another FABULOUS trips for the books. Off to Charleston, SC the following weekend…..
Amy
Aug1
Let’s catch up to speed… A crazy 2013 in review
So I’ve mostly blogged a couple of recipes & a few fashion blogs. A whole world of experiences have taken place in between those blogs. Now let’s see how short I can keep this.
This year has turned out to be THE year of travel & weddings, both of which I LOVE! I started out in NYC with two of my best friends (one of which lives there so we take full advantage of visiting her when we can). May had me traveling all across the east coast & most weekends I wasn’t sure which dress I was suppose to be wearing. The first weekend of May I hosted my Alzheimer’s fundraiser BVB (Blondes vs Brunettes~ a powder-puff football game) before heading off for my wedding tour of 2013.
Now the east coast travel begins … First stop, Pawley’s Island to be MOH in my best friend’s wedding. Cakes & I have known each other since we were 13 and it was such an honor to stand beside her as she married her one and only {Mr Cuddles as she refers to him in her blog~http://khoehmen.blogspot.com/ } It was BEAUTIFUL!
Two of my oldest friends, Kort and Channy at Katie Cakes wedding
So great to see all of my oldest friends from elementary school, middle school & HS. I missed my 10 yr reunion because I was in Charlotte opening my store so I got to see everybody I wanted to this weekend & the wedding the following weekend. After the brunch on Sunday I drove down to Charleston to see my dad & relax for a night; This was also due to a broken phone & I only knew how to drive to Charleston from Pawley’s & not the back woods way I came from Charlotte (details details). Then Monday back to the Queen City (Charlotte) for just a few days before jumping back in the car and heading to Atlanta (exhausted yet?)
Off to ATL… home sweet home. It was great to see my momma & spend some time there, then it was time to see my best guy friend since I was 1 1/2 get hitched to the cutest girl! Now, as mentioned earlier, this was also the second half of the “high school” reunion I missed, it was like none of us skipped a beat. Two weeks, two weddings with childhood friends and endless laughs and stories.
Me & the handsome groom Jojo. From playing together in diapers to watching him walk down the aisle.. it has been a hell of a ride
Sunday it was a little R & R with momma then back to the Queen City again for just a few days. Side note: Do you see why I don’t know what I am suppose to be wearing or where to have my mail forwarded? Woaza….. I digress. Next stop on the tour, putting my MOH tiara back on & headed to Pinehurst, NC.
Now this is the grand finale for the wedding tour (for the first part of the year) & we sure did go out with a BANG! I truly could do a full bio on each wedding & all of the shenanigans but I will cliff note each and spare you.
This wedding has been 10 years in the making. This is where my best friend, my unbiological sister & other half gets married!! Niki & Kyle have been together for 10 years but have known each other since they were like 5ish. This is the laid back southern couple that knows how to throw down…. i.e. the groomsmen cleared a couple of mason jars of shine the day of the wedding…
Please take note of the groomsmen hahaha
I knew going into it I would be an emotional mess but man I even surprised myself with the tears. I got to stand beside my best friend AND one of my best guy friends as they said “I Do”. We drank, we danced & truly just celebrated.
The beautiful Niki & KB
Me & KB (the groom) He knew he was getting a second wife when he said I Do to Niki
Sunday I dragged myself to the car and finally headed back to the Queen City to get my life back together get back to my “normal” routine.
I had a nice little breather before flying the friendly skies to my next destination. Keeping with my birthday tradition of fleeing town, it was off to DC for a late bday celebration & to celebrate the 4th (you can’t get any more American than celebrating the 4th in DC by the way). I closed the store for half the week because of the holiday & headed to see my sissy & best friend (Cakes from the first wedding mentioned) & Kort (pictured in first wedding pic) met us there as well. We did everything American you could think of… Nationals baseball game, cookout, shop & watch the fireworks on a rooftop. It was perfect!
Rooftop on the Hill, fireworks & good friends
Have I lost any and everybody that was reading this? Long-winded much?! I promise the following ones will be one “event coverage” at a time but wanted to get up to speed for 2013. I’m off to pack my bags again. NYC next week to celebrate one of my favorite people being born 🙂 then Charleston the following weekend to celebrate my beautiful friend Jules’ upcoming nuptials. Until next time….
A
Jun25
Nautical Knockout
Jun11
This Outfit Has All The Fireworks For The Fourth
Love the Sweet Summer Time Maxi for the fourth of July from Olive Boutique. It is super light material so it makes it the perfect maxi for a hot July. I love a maxi dress but the heavier material sometimes makes it near miserable to wear in the summer heat, not with this fabulous dress. Hope you all enjoy!
Xo
Amy
Feb7
Fresh Roasted Veggies…. Easy Peasy!
Easy Roasted Veggies
After all of the junk I consumed on Sunday while watching the Super Bowl, veggies were a MUST last night!! I’m not even kidding, I ate enough to feed a small country. So Monday was back to the gym and healthy eating. This is the easiest and healthiest recipe EVER and perfect to be the side dish to any meal.
Easy Peasy Roasted Veggies
1 Red Onion
6-8 Red Potatoes
1 Zuchinni
1 Squash
1 Container of Whole Mushrooms
Olive Oil
21 Seasoning Salute
Salt/Pepper
Oregano
Minced Garlic
Preheat the oven to 375. Wash your veggies and cut them up, I cut the onions in larger sliced, don’t dice and the potatoes in quarters. Put the veggies in a bowl and drizzle olive oil over lightly, just enough to coat them. Add your seasonings and garlic to taste and toss around. Spread the veggies on a cooking tray evenly and place in the oven for 15 minutes then take them out and mix them around to cook the other side and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Easy as that!
Roasted Veggie Seasoning Minus the Salt
Xo
Just A Dash Of Glitter 